23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Debate Simplied, January 1, 2000
This review is from: Jesus: The Great Debate (Paperback)
Jesus the Great Debate, by Grant Jeffrey
With this book, Grant Jeffery has attempted to fill a critical void in Historical Jesus Debate. While liberal, skeptical scholarship (for example, the Jesus Seminar), which often rejects the historical credibility of Jesus, has done a good job of presenting their case to the non-scholarly community, typically through sensationalistic books and articles, the other side is poorly represented. The best of the conservative scholarship in the Debate has been directed to other scholars, and is largely inaccessible to interested lay people. I admire Grant's intentions with this book, but I was very disappointed with the delivery. With the first ¾ of the book, he does try to present the case for the historical Jesus, using "archeological, and historical information that supports the claims of the Gospel writers," but with an over-simplification of the facts and often misrepresentation of the alternate viewpoints (the last ¼ of the book is largely unrelated to the Debate). I found many disappointments throughout the book. His frequent appeal to 19th and early 20th century biblical scholars is frustrating, considering all the recent, up to date, scholarship that is available. His scriptural references are typically drawn from the KJV, and at times this archaic language makes his argument annoyingly difficult to follow. The NKJV, or better yet, NRSV, would have been better. In Grant's tautological argument for the accuracy of Scripture, because it is the inspiration of God, he quotes 2 Tim 3:16, and John 10:35 (page 38). I believe the context of these texts refers to the newly forming (at that time) canon of what Christians call the Old Testament; the New Testament did not exist when these statements were made. Grant argues, without question, that the Pierced (or Piercing) Messiah scroll (4Q285) from Qumran refers to Jesus (p. 61), but even conservative scholars only agree the text refers to a messianic figure, possibly the Teacher of Righteousness, the leader of the Qumran community. The evidence for Jose O'Callaghan 1972 suggestion that NT books are represented among the Scrolls (p. 66) is too fragmentary and not taken seriously by many scholars today. On Golgotha and the Tomb of Jesus, Grant argues against the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and for Gordon's Calvary and Garden Tomb. Key to the argument against the Holy Scepulchre is the fact is was located inside the city walls. He dismisses Second Wall theory (allowing the site to be outside the wall) because "there is no conclusive archaeological evidence to prove this assertion." Grant completely ignores here the excavations of Kenyon and her case indicating the site was outside the first century wall. Yet, when Grant defends Gordon's Garden Tomb, he appeals to K. Kenyon and her support of the early dates of the tomb (thus, he obviously is aware of her work). If one looks at Gordon's fanciful vision of a skeleton superimposed on a map of Jerusalem, the reader could easily see silliness behind Gordon's approach to his selection of this site. There are better alternates if one does not accept the Holy Sepulchre (for example, see Ernest Martin's Secrets of Golgotha). In Grants challenge to the C14 dating of the Shroud of Turin, he talks about a case involving Mayan jade, a Itzamna Tun (p. 144) - but can jade be C14 dated? I feel Grant's interesting material on medieval Jewish messianic expectations (p. 191) should have little pertinence to the messianic expectations of pre-70 CE Palestine. In my opinion, the important Genealogy of Jesus (p. 221) is far too brief, and over half the chapter is devoted to an unrelated discussion of whether Jesus' Hebrew name was Yeshu or Yeshua. The useful points in this book include a good summary of the Shroud of Turin, excellent chapter on the evidence from ancient Christian tombs, and an interesting introduction to the complex Moses Maimonides. This book is much needed, but, for me, it disappointed. I hope Grant will work on a second edition, next time with better scholarship.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book, well worth its price!, March 14, 2000
This book read like a novel. I found the evidence presented in the book both valid and interesting. Jeffrey goes over historical, archaeological, and logical arguments for and against the life of Jesus as presented in the Gospels and asks you to make an educated decision based on the facts.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable reading for Christians, August 20, 2000
This review is from: Jesus: The Great Debate (Paperback)
Jeffrey does a good job going over the historical and archaeological evidence in order to prove Jesus existed. I found the evidence presented in the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient Jewish sources, and Christian tombs, to be both enlightening and accurate. Once again, Grant R. Jeffrey gives Christians a book that can only strengthen their faith.
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